| South
Africa evokes images of sea, sun, mountains, African
culture and game parks, but not everyone realises that
it's also a prime shopping destination. Local industries
in all sectors are thriving, and the country produces
an array of unique artefacts, textiles, jewellery, leather
goods and crafts. Stock up on delicious local beverages,
cheeses, dried fruits, sweetmeats and honey, which comes
infused with delicate fragrances from orange blossom
to eucalyptus. There is no shortage of covetable goods
to take home as a reminder of an unforgettable holiday.
Not to mention the reasonable prices and tourist-friendly
exchange rate.
South Africa is a rich source of beauty and has inspired
artists in all media, as well as empowering local
craftspeople to produce beautiful goods. Regional art
galleries
display the best of local talent and will offer advice
on buying
South African art as an aesthetic and financial investment.
The National Arts Trust helps communities to develop
their unique traditional skills, using local materials
and labour
to create objects that add interest and appeal to
homes all over the world. Local craftspeople are frequently
in attendance in craft markets where you can spend
hours
choosing
rotund polished hippos, intricate beadwork, stately
wooden giraffes and a plethora of other sculpted objets
d'art
made from colourful beads, gemstones, wood, leather,
grasses, fabric and metal.
In Cape Town visit Greenmarket Square, an open market
in a cobbled city square selling just about everything.
At the V&A Waterfront the Red Shed Craft Workshop
is a vast indoor craft market where items are designed
and made to order. On Sundays there is a weekly market
on the green in scenic Hout Bay.
In Durban artful creations can be found in the old
station building, where the African Art Centre promotes
the work of local artists. At the innovative harbour
Bat Centre, artists and crafters work on-site in studios
and sell high-quality decorative items. In the city
centre, a wander along Grey Street and the adjoining
Victoria Street Market transports the visitor to an
exotic place redolent with incense and spices. Today
the original Indian markets are bustling thoroughfares
lined with stalls where you can bargain for brassware,
baskets, curry ingredients and ornaments of all types.
Skilled tailors make exquisitely stitched garments
according to individual taste and a number of specialist
stores sell shimmering silks as well as ready-made
saris. Nearby is the Warwick Triangle, where guided
tours through the maze of 'muthi' stalls show traditional
healers selling crocodile teeth, snake skins and extracts
of plants as alternative cures for every ailment. On
Saturdays the open-air Essenwood Market, set in a leafy
park, offers handmade crafts ranging from stained glass
and decorative candles to hand-stitched clothing and
toys.
In Johannesburg local culture abounds at the African
Craft Market in Rosebank, where traders from all parts
of the continent compete with each other to charm shoppers
with their exquisitely fashioned goods. On Sundays
and public holidays the roof of the adjoining shopping
centre becomes the popular Rosebank Rooftop Market,
selling arts, crafts, consumer goods and foodstuffs.
The pick of local wares are also sold by their makers
at the roadside, in the central areas of cities and
on the scenic routes leading to the country's many
game parks.
South Africa's national fashion schools have begun
producing designers of exceptional talent. Look for
items by Hip-Hop, Stoned Cherrie, Black Coffee, India
Jane, Gideon, Julian, The Boys, Errol Arendz, Jenni
Button, Marianne Fassler, Gert van der Merwe, Sun Goddess,
Juanita Pacheco, Fred Eboka. You'll be the toast of
any society event back home.
Textiles are also of superb quality, so if you have
space, wedge a bolt or two of fine fabric into your
luggage allowance - delicate sari material glittering
with gold thread, perhaps, or a few lengths of printed
cotton bearing, among other quirky African designs,
Nelson Mandela's portrait.
The last decade or so has seen an explosion in the
home accessory and interior design trade, and South
Africa's design industry takes a great deal of beating.
From traditional to contemporary, from furniture to
crockery and cutlery, a few touches of South African
style make any home stand out from the rest. Look for
leather furniture and home accessories, pewter implements,
papier mache bowls, woven place settings, carved wooden
lamps and receptacles, ceramics of all shapes, hues
and sizes, embroidered linen, eclectic picture frames
and stained-glass light fixtures.
South Africa produces some of the world's best-quality
precious metals and gemstones and has some of the world's
most skilled stonecutters, polishers and jewellery
designers. There is a wide choice of finely crafted
jewellery to buy as gifts and mementoes. If you're
after glittering diamonds, gold, silver or platinum,
this is the place for you.
Learn more about these treasures by visiting the diamond
mines in Kimberley or Cullinan, the gold mine at Gold
Reef City or the charming town of Pilgrim's Rest, rich
in mineral wealth. Jewellery stores sell loose certified
gems and give sound advice on jewel selection, and
skilled craftsmen are available to set your chosen
stones in individually designed rings, bracelets or
necklaces. South Africa is also the best place to buy
the desirable deep-blue gem called tanzanite - a vein
of it was recently discovered in Africa and it is currently
fashionable, but will soon become rare as no further
reserves have been found.
South Africa has a first-world infrastructure and
shiny shopping malls that rival those in any of the
world's fashion capitals. During holiday seasons and
at weekends these centres often feature live performers
to entertain shoppers of all ages.
Canal Walk is a shopping and entertainment complex
with 400 shops, 18 cinemas and dozens of restaurants.
It's a good place to find hand-made leather and hide
furniture, plus gifts and curios of all description.
Cavendish Square is a smaller, upmarket mall concentrating
on high-end fashion.
Victoria Wharf, situated at the V&A Waterfront,
has restaurants overlooking the bustling harbour, an
art-house cinema and a number of stores offering top-quality
South African art and objects.
Constantia Village is a Cape Dutch-style complex holding
a handful of top-end stores - including a store that
supplies locally made fashionable footwear and handbags
- where ladies from the vineyard suburbs go to lunch
and shop.
A short drive from the V&A Waterfront, on the
Atlantic seaboard, are the suburbs of Green Point and
De Waterkant. Green Point is home to a few small art
galleries as well as furniture and décor stores,
and De Waterkant is one of the city's burgeoning trendy
areas. The Cape Quarter, a collection of innovative
stores set round a cobbled courtyard, is an excellent
place to find contemporary furniture, lampshades, lights,
vases and other unique home art.
The Gateway Theatre of Shopping is Durban's flagship
complex, a gigantic, space-age leisure and retail centre
that offers the best of fashion, food, technology and
lifestyle. For extreme sports enthusiasts there is
a participative surf centre and a skateboard park.
In fashionable Westville, one of the city's oldest
suburbs, the Pavilion is a vast, multilevel shopping
centre of lyrical design. Visiting all its upmarket
retail and leisure outlets can take at least a day.
Also worth visiting for a further variety of shops
are the Workshop, the Musgrave Centre and the La
Lucia Mall.
Sandton City, one of South Africa's first malls, has
received more facelifts than Cher and looks just as
good. A favourite haunt of tourists and well-heeled
locals, it has 300 shops, plus the added bonus of Nelson
Mandela Square, a piazza containing fountains and a
famous statue of Mandela, surrounded by eateries and
designer stores.
Rosebank Mall attracts trendy youngsters in droves
and is a pleasant mix of indoor and outdoor shopping
areas, offering a mix of clothing, electronic goods,
books, music and esoterica.
Eastgate, Northgate, Westgate, Cresta and Fourways
Malls are similarly styled shopping behemoths in
different areas of Johannesburg. So wherever you're
staying you'll
find a one-stop shopping centre offering every
gift, memento and precious trinket you need.
The Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg, near Johannesburg's
CBD, is a multi-level bazaar warm with the fragrance
of curry and incense and the welcome of shopkeepers
who run their own stores. Creators of breathtakingly
beautiful saris and sari fabric can be found
here. Bright with lanterns and colourful drapes, the
centre has long been the first stop for anyone
wanting the
best in fabrics, curtaining and accessories.
African Art Centre +27 (0)31 304-7915
African Craft Market www.craft.co.za +27
(0)11 880-2906
Bat Centre +27 (0)31 332-9951
Canal Walk www.canalwalk.co.za 0860 101 165
Cape Quarter www.capequarter.co.za
Cavendish Square www.cavendish.co.za +27
(0)21 671-8042
Constantia Village www.constantiavillage.com +27
(0)21 794-5065
Essenwood Market +27 (0)31 306-7744
Gateway Theatre of Shopping www.gatewayworld.co.za +27
(0)31 566-2332
Nelson Mandela Square www.nelsonmandelasquare.com
+27
(0)11 217-6000
Oriental Plaza +27 (0)11 836-4418
The Pavilion +27 (0)31 265-0558
Red Shed Craft Workshop www.waterfront.co.za +27
(0)21 408-7600
Rosebank Mall +27 (0)11 788-5530
Rosebank Rooftop Market +27 (0)11 442-4488
Sandton City www.sandtoncity.com +27
(0)11 883-2011
Victoria Wharf www.waterfront.co.za +27
(0)21 408-7600 |
